"Papa?" Black Mist called out as the children swarmed around his legs happily. "Papa, where are you?"

"Are you okay, brother?" one of the children asked. "You didn't come out for a long time!"

Black Mist looked down at the child and smiled, though it was empty. "I'm fine. Just a shock, is all."

The child nodded and walked off, and Black Mist could see a hint of unease in his eyes. The Dark Number sighed; he'd have to work on seeming like he was alright. He didn't want to worry the children. Assuring them as he made his way around the halls, he continued his search for Hope until he came across his room, which doubled as an office. He rapped quickly on the door.

"Papa?" he called out.

Inside the room, Hope looked up from the pages he was flipping through from the third book about spells and curses. Rubbing his eyes, he said, "Come in."

Black Mist entered the room and shut the door behind him quietly. "You look stressed. Is everything alright?"

The 39 stood up and closed the books, none of which held the answer he was looking for. "I'm fine, Mist. But are you okay? You shouldn't be out and about if you're not feeling up to it."

"No, I'm fine. I remember you were going to tell me something. You said it involved me."

"Ah, yes, of course." Hope stood up and leaned against his desk. "We're both going to the Human World along with ninety-eight others."

Black Mist furrowed his brow. "Why? Is there something wrong?" In the back of his mind, he wondered what a world outside of his own would be like. What would the people of the human world look like and act like? Would they be like the Numbers here, split into different groups? Or would they be unified?

"One of their own is on a mission to find the Numeron Code, but I don't know what it's for. We're to go and give him strength to complete the mission as weapons in his deck."

"Weapons? Why, though?"

"I'm not sure. But this is what Numbers are born to do. Anywhere besides here and the Astral World, we're nothing but cards without an active will, though we can take matters into our own hands. Trust me, it isn't bad. I've done it before some centuries ago." He smiled. "There's a sense of accomplishment in it."

"Will it be the same person you went with that last time?"

"Yes. His name is Astral. As long as everything goes right, it'll be an in-and-out job."

Black Mist nodded, but something told him this trip would take him to the being who spoke in his mind. "I hope you're right. I have something to do there, anyway."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Don't tell him yet. He'll try to stop you."

Papa wouldn't do that, Black Mist mentally argued, but he still didn't want to tell Hope what his plans were. They were dangerous, and if Hope decided to go along with him, he would be put in danger. No, this was a solo mission. "Something I need to do on my own. I just need to recover what sanity I have while we're on this mission."

Hope's brow furrowed in worry. "Are you sure?"

"Positive, Papa."

"Very well, then. Let's just hope all goes well so you'll be able to regain your sense of self."

Black Mist smiled, still a hollow one, and excused himself from the room. He entered the halls, where the children were playing, and welcomed their cheerful chatter. It helped to block out the hushed whispers of the dead ones, whose names he once again forgot. Was one named Cookie? It seemed right, but he didn't recall a child by the name of Cookie. Then again, if that was one of the names he forgot, then he wouldn't be able to tell.

Shaking his head to shake the thought away, he allowed his hands to be taken by the smaller ones, who dragged him away to play.

~.~.~

Don Thousand watched through his orb as Black Mist was dragged away by the orphans, a deep frown scarring his face. The curse was not something he accounted for. It impeded his connection with the Number and made him go insane, which was not good for Don's plans. No, he needed Black Mist clear-minded for what he had in store.

Still, he wasn't a Barian Lord for nothing. He could work around this, just like he worked around his state of weakened-power while at the same time keeping the Emperors he needed for his plan alive by simply drawing from their energy little by little, allowing him enough energy to keep himself in his strongest form and perform the necessary acts he needed to perform. He just needed to find a way to either lift the curse or use it to his advantage.

As of right now, Black Mist was willing to listen to him and do as he was told. Good. He still had something akin to control in this situation, as much control as he could have what with the curse and the distance between them. This could still work. He just needed to be able to rely on Vector to keep Mist's mind off of the curse while at the same time keeping him on task. He would be able to merge the worlds soon.